


ice ice baby

by yspir



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Cyrus said you can be oblivious and I said bet, Figure skater Cyrus, Hockey player TJ, M/M, and that Type is hockey boys, featuring the dumbass trio as hockey teammates, no angst here just boys bein dumb, the ghc can't stop teasing Cyrus about the fact that he has a Type
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-20 15:44:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19994698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yspir/pseuds/yspir
Summary: Cyrus had never felt so tiny in his life. He watched as the freshman from the men’s and women’s hockey teams piled onto the ice in a loud mob, then he looked over at Andi in horror as she and Amber distastefully eyed their hockey skates. It figured that they were going to have to teach them with the wrong skates, as if this wasn’t going to be hard enough.“Is it too late to fake an illness?”





	ice ice baby

**Author's Note:**

> For the Big Bang! Make sure to check out the awesome artwork by emiraee [here](https://andimackbigbang.tumblr.com/post/186572977137/ice-ice-baby) because she did an amazing job and I'm so glad we got to work together! Also big shoutout to the organizers, thanks so much for putting this on!
> 
> minor minor warning for violence: its not graphic in any way and it's not fueled by hatred or bigotry or anything like that, TJ is just a hockey player and hockey players sometimes get punchy in the name of Justice.

TJ was a Man. A Dude. A Bro. So he didn’t really get the whole glitter and grace thing the figure skaters had going on. He didn’t need to get it. He didn't _want_ to get it.

He did get a little caught up watching the figure skaters sometimes, watching their clean lines and careful, precise movements, but he was an athlete too. He could appreciate their skills without understanding their whole thing. 

(He just didn't get why their uniforms had to be… like that. Or why it mattered what your hands were doing as long as you landed the jumps on your feet. Or why they were allowed to use the ice right before the hockey team had practice. Their toe picks and their spins chewed up the ice like no one’s business. It was terrible.)

Point is, TJ had showed up a bit early (okay, a lot early) for his first practice for the university team and the figure skaters were out on the ice and maybe he decided to watch for a little instead of waiting in the empty locker room. He wasn’t really watching for anything in particular, he was just scanning. He kept catching himself following the same one with his eyes though, tracing the patterns of his skates and the flow of his movement. It was smooth, graceful, almost pretty, basically the exact opposite of TJ.

“Hey!”

TJ startled as a body plopped down next to him.

“TJ, right? I think we met on a campus tour, I’m Jonah!”

Jonah was grinning impossibly wide. TJ looked him over in slight shock, still jarred from being surprised when he was totally zoned out. 

“Yup, that’s me.”

Jonah looked like he belonged on the cover of a tween magazine. TJ could almost see the sparkle detail they would add to his teeth.

“Why are we watching figure skating?” said two voices in perfect unison, and TJ jumped again as another boy came over and sat next to Jonah, fist bumping him as he sat down. 

Jonah flashed that million-watt grin again as he introduced TJ to their new visitor. “This is TJ, he’s one of our new teammates. TJ, this is Marty.”

“Yo.”

***

Cyrus was focused as his hands deftly worked their way through Amber’s hair, pulling it into a neat braid while he talked to Andi.

“So have you scouted out any of the hockey players yet? Got your eye on anyone?”

Cyrus choked on his own spit. “Uh, excuse me?”

“Oh, please. I know you well enough to know you have a type.”

“I do _not_. Hockey players are brutish. And smelly. And loud. And not the slightest bit attractive.”

Amber turned to share a look with Andi, ignoring Cyrus as he said, “Careful! I’m not done yet!”

“Sooo, are we just pretending Jack didn’t exist--”

“Okay that was one time--”

Amber held a hand up, counting lazily on her fingers as Andi listed the names. “And Cody, and Patrick, and…”

“Oh, hush you.” Cyrus said, as he wrapped the hair tie around the end of the braid, flicking it back over her shoulder once he finished. “There, you’re done.”

“Thanks Cy,” Amber said as she ran a hand over the braid. “You know, the hockey team started practice right after we finished. We could stick around a little. Familiarize ourselves with the enemy.”

Cyrus swatted at her shoulder. “We are not going to do that.”

Amber shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

The sound of the whistle was sharp as the hockey team gathered at centre ice. Cyrus sighed when he noticed the expectant looks he was getting from Andi and Amber. “I do not have a thing for hockey players,” he said defensively. “Besides, we’re too far away and they’re all wearing helmets. I can’t see their faces.”

***

TJ had met Coach a number of times before he committed to the team and TJ thought he had a pretty good grasp on the guy’s character. He had liked him the whole time, he seemed like a classy and respected man, but TJ was starting to reconsider.

“Figure skating?!” Marty asked in disbelief when they made it back into the locker room. “I can’t believe he’s making us do figure skating!”

“Oh, relax, Marty. It’s like one practice, what’s the worst that could happen.” Jonah piped up from his stall.

“Uh, it sucks and we look stupid?”

“Well then you don’t need to worry, you look stupid all the time on your own.”

Marty threw a ball of wadded up sock tape at him.

After one practice, what TJ had been able to gather about his apparent new friends Jonah and Marty was this:

  1. They were a d-pairing in high school and their freaky mind reading synergy seemed to carry over off ice.
  2. Chaos. They should _not_ be left alone together.



Which is why naturally they were roommates.

“We have to call maintenance, we broke the blinds when we were moving in. See you tomorrow!”

TJ watched with slight disbelief as they left. He had so many questions, and he doubted he was going to get any answers. Probably just more questions.

TJ’s first ever college class did not sound very interesting on paper. It was a freshman english class that everyone had to take, and the required textbook titled “Basics of Academic Writing” sounded like the dryest thing TJ would ever have to illegally download. He didn’t manage to land in a class with any of his teammates so he found himself a seat alone in the back of the room. 

About a minute after he sat down, someone came in and sat down in the seat in front of his. They looked vaguely familiar, and TJ realized it was the figure skater he had been watching the other day. He was excited for a half a second before he remembered that he didn’t actually know the guy and he was hardly more of a comforting presence than all of the other strangers in the room. He almost reached out to introduce himself anyways, but he decided against it after watching the other guy for a minute because he seemed a bit flustered already.

***

Cyrus had thought he had known what stress was when he got worked up over his high school classes, but that had nothing on how he was feeling as he sat down in his first ever college class. He pulled out a notebook and a pen and very meticulously wrote down the date at the top of the first page. He debated for a second whether or not it would be overkill to pull his new textbook out and put that on his desk too, but he thought back to the fact apparently a lot of college kids wait to get their textbooks (or sometimes don't even get them at all! That thought alone was enough to stress Cyrus out even more). He decided it would be fine if he left it in his bag unless he actually needed it.

The professor started the class off by handing out the syllabus. Cyrus turned back to hand one to the guy behind him which is the first time he actually got a good look at any of his new classmates and _oh. Oh no._

“Thanks,” the guy said as Cyrus froze for half a second before pulling himself back together.

“Mh,” was his intelligent response before he turned back and raked his eyes over the syllabus while simultaneously regretting his entire existence. Cyrus was pretty sure he didn’t go to high school with any guys like that. He was almost proud for a second that he could report back to Andi that his newest potential unattainable crush was in fact _not_ a hockey player this time. 

Cyrus was with Buffy in the dining hall that night minding his own business when Andi dropped by with plans to ruin his day.

“Did you see the email about the clinic?”

“I did not.”

Andi had a huge grin. “The hockey teams want us to work with them to help their skating.”

“Hockey players?! Oh nonono, that’s not a good idea.” Cyrus squeaked.

“Why not? You love hockey players, now you actually get a chance to talk to them.”

“Hockey players are only a good idea in theory, not in practice. Not _at_ practice. Absolutely not.”

“The hockey teams are going to pay the figure skating club, Cy. It's like, two lessons, it’s totally worth it.”

Cyrus frowned, knowing that their club would love the money. 

Buffy perked up. “Hey, maybe I could get the women’s team to come too! It might be good for us, plus at least one hockey player will be a familiar face so it won’t be as bad for you.”

Cyrus was skeptical. “Do all of your new teammates know yet that they should never _ever_ challenge you to anything?”

Buffy smiled. “I’ll be on my best behaviour, I promise.”

“Then yeah, I think that might actually make it better. Thanks, Buffy.”

Cyrus knew exactly what she was going to say as a familiar smile came across her face. “Just another service we provide.”

It was about a week later when the dreaded day of the first figure skating clinic finally arrived and Cyrus had never felt so tiny in his life. He watched as the freshman from the men’s and women’s hockey teams piled onto the ice in a loud mob, then he looked over at Andi in horror as she and Amber distastefully eyed their hockey skates. It figured that they were going to have to teach them with the wrong skates, as if this wasn’t going to be hard enough.

“Is it too late to fake an illness?”

***

TJ had spent the last week convincing himself that Coach was going to send out an email saying sike, and they would all laugh and not have to learn figure skating. He was convinced right up until he stepped foot on the ice that day with the figure skaters waiting for them. Alright, they were doing this then.

There were three figure skaters looking somewhat displeased at centre ice as the hockey teams gathered. 

The chattering quieted as the whistle blew, turning everyone’s attention to the figure skaters. TJ was a little excited when he noticed that the figure skater from his English class was one of the ones here to work with them, along with two girls. If absolutely nothing else, this gave TJ an excuse to talk to him next class. 

“I’m Amber,” the blonde haired one in the middle said, “and this is Andi and Cyrus. We’re gonna start with some basic warm ups.”

The figure skaters set out to demonstrate what everyone was going to do, and TJ found his eyes following Cyrus again. Even on the most basic moves, Cyrus was a very beautiful skater. At least the laser focus was useful today as TJ did his best to mimic what Cyrus was doing.

He didn’t hate it as much as he thought he might. Skating was still skating at the end of the day, and he did actually enjoy focusing on new footwork and techniques. And, according to Coach, some of this might actually be helpful to their hockey which was reason enough for TJ to take it seriously. 

They got called back together at centre ice to learn a very basic spin, and Marty got volunteered to make the first attempt courtesy of Jonah pushing him forwards when he let his guard down. He did mostly fine except for where he stumbled a little bit and TJ thought it was respectable, but the girl from the women’s team who snickered apparently did not.

“Oh, I’d like to see you do better.” Marty said defensively, and TJ could see the girl stand up straighter and puff up her chest a little before skating out to the middle.

“That sounds like a challenge.”

“Maybe it was.”

The determination set in her jaw as she looked over at the figure skaters “You guys are the judges,” before turning back to Marty. “You’re on.”

***

Cyrus was actually going to kill Buffy.

The day had actually been going fine so far much to Cyrus’s surprise but if Buffy got everyone into competition mode, well. Cyrus didn’t want to be held liable for any injuries, is all. 

Buffy _did_ execute the spin better much to the other guy’s chagrin, but Cyrus could tell this was not the last of that. He knew that look in Buffy’s eyes, and it never meant good things.

He breathed a sigh of relief as they let the group loose to practice the basics of a two foot spin alone before anyone got injured. The figure skaters were monitoring, stopping by anyone who needed adjustment (or, to be real, stopping by those who needed the most adjustment. They all needed adjustment).

“Hey, that looks pretty good! Remember, the faster you pull your arms in, the faster you’ll go!”

“Thanks!” The guy was almost sincere as he looked up at Cyrus and _oh. Oh no_. It was the hot guy from his English class. And he was a _hockey player_.

Cyrus watched as he tried it again with tongue poked out in concentration, and _god_ , he was already big and tall and strong and attractive and it seemed a little unfair for him to also be adorable.

“Better?”

 _And_ he was taking figure skating seriously. 

Cyrus nodded in affirmation and said “looking good!” in his cheery instructor voice before making a move to skate away in an attempt to make a smooth exit and avoid doing any permanent damage to his dignity.

“Sorry about Marty, by the way. I swear he can’t help himself sometimes.”

“What? Oh! Marty, right. No worries, I’m friends with Buffy so I can’t pretend I’m not used to it.”

“I’m TJ, by the way.”

“Cyrus.”

TJ laughed. “I know.”

“Oh, right. Well, I should… I need to check up on the others.”

It almost looked like TJ’s face fell a little bit, but Cyrus was sure it was just his focus returning. “Right. Thanks.”

***

TJ noted that Cyrus had beaten him to class the next Monday and he looked slightly startled when TJ took advantage of the empty seat next to him.

“Cyrus, right?”

Cyrus hesitated for a second before realization crossed his face. “You’re the hockey player guy.”

Close enough. “Actually, TJ”

“Right, you told me that.”

It occured to TJ again that while he had been paying extra attention to Cyrus for the past week, TJ had certainly not taken up similar space in Cyrus’s head so this all probably seemed a bit out of the blue. “Sorry, this is probably a bit weird. I just recognized you and we’ve both been sitting alone…”

“No! No, not weird, I just wasn’t expecting it. Haven’t made any friends in this class either?”

“I’ll be honest, I don’t really know anyone here not from the hockey team.”

Cyrus raised his eyebrows. “Technically you still met me through the hockey team.”

TJ shrugged. “Hey, it's a start. Besides, isn’t it a good thing to know people in your classes?”

Cyrus smiled and then pulled out his phone and handed it to TJ. “Having someone to proofread papers might be a good idea.”

***

TJ’s roommate was on the track and field team, but he was literally never in their room, and sometimes TJ thought he was just a figment of his imagination. He wasn’t going to question it as it made his dorm a good hangout spot, and he figured it was as good a place as any to bring Cyrus so they could work through their first assignment.

“Make yourself at home, sit wherever you want ”

Cyrus looked a little nervous and TJ was worried that he had come on too strong. He set his bag down and motioned to TJ's bed. "May I?"

"Of course."

As Cyrus made himself comfy he started to ramble about his paper (which TJ had only just started.)

"I'm mostly done with it but I need to completely rework the second and third paragraphs. It's four pages long right now but I'm not sure if that's going to be good enough. I'm also not sure if my argument's even any good so I might just completely start over."

TJ blinked at him. "The minimum length is two pages, I'm sure four is going to be just fine."

"Well I can't let the professor's first impression of me be someone who just does the bare minimum."

TJ laughed and shook his head. "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

He pulled out what he had of his own paper to hand to Cyrus. It wasn't nearly as done as Cyrus's seemed to be but TJ wasn't worried about it. English was a class he was pretty confident he could handle. The two settled into a comfortable silence as they read each other's papers, only the occasional sound of shuffling as a page was turned or a note made.

TJ turned toward Cyrus in disbelief after he finished reading through his paper. Either Cyrus was a filthy liar or someone needed to hit him upside the head with a serious dose of confidence. "Dude, this is amazing, I have no idea what you were so worried about."

Cyrus shrugged bashfully. "It's alright."

TJ wheeled his desk chair over to where Cyrus was. "Here, I have a few notes for you and then you can tell me all about mine, kay? Here, in the first paragraph…"

***

Cyrus approached the second figure skating clinic with a significant amount more confidence than the last time. He had an in with both hockey teams now, and they made it through the last session with minimal difficulty. He took a deep breath and shook the remaining hesitance out of his body as he stepped on the ice.

They were planning to work on arabesques and if Cyrus knew anything about the flexibility of an average hockey player it was sure to be an adventure.

He wasn't _too_ picky with most of the guys because he knew it was a bit of a lost cause for most of them. If he could get their leg above a 45° angle from the ground he was counting it as a victory. 

"So," Marty said after Cyrus watched his attempt. "You think you can get mine better than Buffy's? I gotta beat her at something."

Cyrus looked over at where Buffy was working. She had a bit of dance experience and it showed. As if on cue, she looked over at Marty with a smirk, leg still trailing gracefully behind her in the air.

"Well, if you spend a few months stretching you'll certainly get closer."

Marty frowned, as if he genuinely expected Cyrus's knowledge to get him from barely able to touch his toes to full arabesque in five or so minutes. 

He moved on to TJ, who was also having flexibility issues. "How do you do this, dude? It's literally impossible."

Cyrus laughed. "Years of practice and stretching. Here, let me help you out a little and show you again."

He adjusted TJ's posture and left him standing somewhat awkwardly on one foot as he turned to demonstrate. He turned back when he heard a string of cursing to see TJ down on the ice looking slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, I got… distracted?"

“Toe pick?” Cyrus joked as he offered a hand to help TJ up. TJ took his hand and gave him a confused look as he made it back up to his feet.

“No? These are hockey skates.”

Cyrus looked blankly at him for a second. “Have you never seen The Cutting Edge?”

“Um, no?”

“Oh my god, that needs to be fixed.”

***

TJ had never been less inspired about writing a paper in his life than he was for this one. He sighed in frustration and slammed his laptop shut, spinning his chair to look at Cyrus who was sitting on TJ’s bed working on his own paper. “I can’t do this right now, my brain hurts. I need a break.”

Cyrus looked up from his screen. “Wanna do something else for a little bit?”

“Please." He thought back to the other day where he managed to embarrass himself by focusing on Cyrus so hard he forgot how to skate. "What was that movie you wanted me to watch?”

“Cutting Edge?”

TJ hopped up onto his bed and settled next to Cyrus. “Yeah, let’s watch that!”

Cyrus looked a little surprised, then shrugged. “Alright, if you insist.”

***

Cyrus woke up groggily and realized that he was still in TJ’s room, and then realized that he was using TJ’s shoulder as a pillow. TJ, for his part, was also fast asleep with his head resting on Cyrus’s and an arm wrapped around his waist, which is the reason that Cyrus didn’t jump away as fast as possible when he realized the position they were in. He did move just enough to disturb TJ though.

“Oh, sorry, did I fall asleep on you?” He asked as he sat up and stretched his arms out.

“I think I fell asleep on you first, so I think you’re good.” Cyrus said while fighting a blush.

TJ grabbed his phone from his pocket, squinting at the screen. “Shoot! It’s 7:30. I guess that study break got a little out of hand, huh?” He stood up and stretched before making his way back to his desk and opening his laptop. “500 more words isn’t really that many, right?”

Cyrus was more than a little disoriented, but he managed to pull it together. “Not at all, you got this.”

TJ started to type, then paused and looked over at Cyrus with a grin. “Thanks for keeping me entertained.”

Cyrus returned the smile. “Always.”

So, Cyrus maybe had a teeny tiny crush on TJ, but it wasn’t a big deal. Totally fine. He had it under control.

He got to class the next morning with a minute to spare. There was a reason he generally tried not to nap in the middle of the day, he thought as he yawned for the thousandth time. He had a very strict sleep schedule he liked to adhere to, but he hadn’t been tired enough to fall asleep the night before. TJ was already sitting in his usual spot, and when Cyrus sat next to him TJ handed him a muffin and a coffee.

“What’s this for?”

TJ shrugged. “I had a little extra time this morning, figured you might like some breakfast.”

Cyrus took a sip of the coffee and sighed as he felt the warmth run through his body. “Thank you, I needed this. Seriously.”

TJ looked pleased. “It was no big. I was already getting some for me.”

Cyrus wasn’t expecting this to become a routine, but the next class TJ walked in (after Cyrus this time, Cyrus would never let lack of punctuality become a habit) with a bag from the cafe. And then again the class after that. Eventually Cyrus just came to expect it.

***

He told Andi about the fated movie night at their practice that afternoon.

“It’s so embarrassing, Andi! I don’t think his usual bro time involves cuddling.”

“From what you said it doesn’t seem like he minded all that much.” Her eyebrows were raised at Cyrus in an all too familiar look and, nope, Cyrus wasn’t going to entertain that thought in the slightest. He sighed.

“Stop with that face, the cuddling was an accident. He’s just nice. You are not going to make this into a thing.”

Andi shrugged innocently. “I didn’t say anything.”

***

Cyrus hated to admit it, but TJ was actually a very pretty skater. He stood out on the ice during games and despite Cyrus’s lack of hockey specific knowledge he could tell that TJ was one of the best players. He lamented the fact that someone with that much natural talent on skates chose hockey over figure skating, but he also found himself leaning forward in anticipation whenever TJ had the puck on his stick.

This was not something that went unnoticed by the girls, who were sitting on either side of Cyrus. “See something you like?” Andi said with a knowing voice.

“I just think he’s a good player.” Cyrus said as he forced himself to sit all the way back in his seat.

“You’re not wrong.” Buffy said, sounding like the mere fact ruined her day. 

Andi leaned forwards to look over at Buffy. “He’s also Cyrus’s study buddy,” she said in a very pointed tone.

“Okay, you didn’t have to say study buddy like _that_. We’re in the same English class, we just proofread each other’s assignments.”

“And watch movies together and then fall asleep on each other.”

“That was one time, and it was only because he hadn’t seen Cutting Edge. And falling asleep was an accident!”

“Excuse me,” Buffy interjected, “why didn’t I know about any of this?” 

“Because it’s not actually a thing! We just study together!” 

Buffy and Andi shared a look of obvious disbelief which was rude because Cyrus was sitting right there. Buffy turned to Cyrus and put her hand over her heart in mock offense. “And to think, you had me believing I was the only hockey player in your life.”

Whatever Cyrus’s protest was going to be was interrupted by the sound of a crushing hit into the boards and the consequent protest by the home crowd. One of TJ’s teammates was painfully picking himself up off the ice as Buffy was loudly yelling obscenities at the refs and the other team and anyone else who would listen, but Cyrus was watching TJ again.

TJ and the guy that made the hit were getting in each other’s faces until finally they both threw their gloves to the ice. Before Cyrus had a chance to look away, TJ had one fist in the other guy’s jersey and one fist connecting solidly with his face as they both started throwing punches.

***

TJ kind of felt like the man as the ref skated him to the penalty box. He could feel the adrenaline pumping and his heartbeat pounding in his ears as his teammates were going crazy on the bench, slamming their sticks into the boards. TJ took it in knowing that he didn’t often get to be in this position. He wasn’t much of a fighter, but when he did fight it always gave him a different kind of rush than scoring.

He wiped his face off, keeping a steely resolve even when he went over the more tender areas, and got a drink of water as the penalty was announced and the game resumed again while he was cooling down. He could already feel the black eye forming, but he would wear it like a badge of honour. His teammates had done the same for him before and they would again.

It was secretly one of his favourite parts of hockey, even if it sometimes left him bruised and battered. He loved the brotherhood, the knowledge that his teammates were willing to bleed for him the same way he would for them. A lot of people didn’t get it, and called the fighting barbaric and unnecessary, but anyone who played knew it wasn’t about hatred or violence for violence sake. It was about honour.

***

Cyrus did not understand why hockey players felt such a need to resort to violence sometimes. He especially did not understand why skilled players with pretty faces felt like face punching was a good use of their talents.

“I was sticking up for my teammate. It’s honour, Cyrus. It’s _the code_.”

“Well I think it's a stupid code if it's a code that gets your face broken.”

“My face isn’t broken, just bruised. I’m fine, seriously, it’s not that bad.” TJ said, protesting the ice pack Cyrus was rather delicately holding up to his face.

Cyrus was unimpressed as he held the ice pack firmer. “Consider it _my_ code to worry about my friends when they go and get themselves a black eye.”

“I didn’t give myself a black eye, the other guy gave me a black eye.” TJ said matter-of-factly, as if he had just outsmarted Cyrus.

“Yeah, after you went up to him and punched him first.”

“ _The code_ , Cyrus.”

Cyrus groaned. _Hopeless, honestly._

***

TJ had absolutely tragic luck with girls, much to the delight of his teammates. He wasn't sure exactly what the problem was, he knew he didn't have the ugliest mug on the team. There were much greasier guys who pulled all the time somehow. TJ had to question the girls’ taste, honestly. Most of his teammates were decidedly not hot.

It was usually not that big of a problem because TJ didn’t really care all that much, but there was an athletes formal coming up. It was pretty much expected to have a date to those things, apparently. If TJ showed up alone he would _never_ hear the end of it.

***

Cyrus was in TJ’s room while TJ was sitting at his desk with his forehead pressed into his work, lamenting the misfortune that apparently was the athlete’s formal. Cyrus was frankly somewhat surprised that TJ had this much of an issue finding a girl to take considering his, you know, everything.

“Is there a friend or someone who would go with you?”

“All of my friends here are either on the team or you, so unless you’re willing to take one for the team…” TJ was clearly joking but he still caught Cyrus off guard and he coughed awkwardly to mask his surprise.

 _Find a way to deflect, can’t be too obvious._ “You’re a hockey player, shouldn’t girls be falling all over you?” _Nailed it._

TJ rolled his head to look at Cyrus, cheek still pressed to the table. “That works better for my teammates than it does for me for some reason. You should see how many girls throw themselves at _Smitty._ ”

Cyrus recalled Smitty, who had shoulder length hair that needed to be cut if he wasn’t going to take proper care of it because the greasy slicked back look wasn’t doing him any favours. TJ had informed Cyrus that messing with ‘the flow’ would apparently be bad luck. Cyrus viewed that type of logic as another point against this guy. “Ugh, seriously? I don’t even know any of these girls and I’m sure they can do better.”

TJ laughed, and then sat up and removed his face from his homework. “Alright, study break over. I can sort this out later.”

***

As the season progressed, Marty had made a habit of both invading people's space and being the keeper of weekend plans.

He was sitting in TJ's stall in the locker room after a Friday practice.

“Yo, Kipp!”

"What’s up?”

“We’re going to a party at Smitty's this weekend and you’re coming with!”

“Maybe next weekend? My friend Cyrus and I have plans already.”

“So? Bring him!”

“I’m not exactly sure that’s his scene.”

“Oh, come on, who doesn’t like parties? It’ll be fun.”

***

“This is… not exactly my scene.”

TJ sort of wished Marty was there to hear that so TJ could tell him "I told you so."

"Not really mine either. But if we stick around for about fifteen more minutes we can dip and no one will notice "

The fifteen minutes could have been uneventful, but they weren't, and TJ found himself jawing at an overconfident, smug lax bro who really didn't know when to shut up. Just as it was starting to look like the guy was going to suggest that they take things outside, Cyrus crept up to TJ and timidly grabbed his arm. 

TJ turned to look at Cyrus, the pressure quickly leaving his head when they made eye contact. "Are you okay? Do you want to go?"

Cyrus had the hint of a smile on his face. "I could use some fresh air." 

TJ immediately made a move to go outside, the asshole from before completely forgotten as he led Cyrus to the door. They sat outside in the crisp air for a few minutes before it occurred to TJ that it was him who had needed cool down more than Cyrus. "You did that on purpose."

Cyrus tried to put on a look of innocence but his face gave him away as he said "I don't know what you're talking about, it was hot in there."

TJ bumped their shoulders together. It probably was for the best that he didn't throw hands with that guy, even if he deserved it.

***

Cyrus startled as TJ’s head popped up over the edge of his laptop. He was putting on his best puppy dog eyes already. “Study break?”

Cyrus couldn’t argue with that face. He finished the sentence he was typing and then closed his laptop. “Anything in mind?”

“I’m making you watch Slapshot now, since I watched Cutting Edge with you.”

“You said you liked Cutting Edge!”

“I did! But it could have used more hockey. Slapshot’s got more hockey”

Cyrus raised a skeptical eyebrow. “How much figure skating is in it?”

TJ grinned as he put an arm around Cyrus and pulled him over to his laptop. “Absolutely none.”

After they finished the movie, TJ and Cyrus were in the dining hall getting dinner when they got approached by a girl. Or, TJ got approached by a girl, who probably didn’t even notice Cyrus.

“You’re TJ Kippen from the hockey team right?” 

“That’s me.”

She toyed with a strand of hair as she batted her eyes just a little. “I was at your game the other day, and I just wanted to congratulate you on the win. The goal you scored was really nice.” 

TJ was unaffected. “Oh, uh, thank you.”

The girl seemed a little disappointed as she said, “Well, see you around,” and then retreated back to her friends. Once she was out of earshot Cyrus looked over at TJ, whose expression didn’t change throughout the whole thing. “Does that happen often?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, it’s a bit weird honestly.”

 _This boy. Honestly._ Cyrus hit his shoulder gently. “Dude, she was flirting with you. They’re probably _all_ flirting with you.”

TJ’s eyes widened. “Really? I’ve never noticed that.”

Cyrus was suddenly getting so much insight into TJ’s supposed girl problem.

***

Like clockwork, Marty was waiting at TJ’s stall after their last practice of the week. “Plans this weekend?”

“There’s figure skating competition here tomorrow that I’m going to.” TJ might as well have told his teammates he was going to Antarctica based on the looks on their faces. “What? I have a friend who figure skates and comes to all our games, you ungrateful rats.”

Marty held his hands up in surrender. “Alright, fair enough. I was going to drag you to a party and help you land a formal date, but it’s probably more fun for me if you show up alone.”

TJ tried to throw an unimpressed look Marty’s way. “You spend so much time worrying about my date, have you even gotten one for yourself yet?”

“I’ve got someone in mind, but you’ll see at the formal.”

“It’s that girl from the women’s team that kicked his ass at figure skating.” Smitty offered from the other side of the locker room. 

Marty flushed a little, but kept up the act as he turned and glared playfully. “Way to ruin the mystery.”

Smitty shrugged. “Someone’s gotta.”

Jonah nodded, raising his gatorade bottle. “I’ll drink to that.”

***

TJ was just now learning that figure skating competitions were very, very long. He didn’t mean to keep dozing off, but he hadn’t got nearly enough sleep in the past week and the classical music was putting him right out. He jerked back up when he heard the announcer saying Cyrus’s name as he took his place on the ice. TJ was literally there for Cyrus, so he felt less bad about fixating as he instinctively leaned forward.

TJ has seen a lot of figure skating uniforms in his time. He grew up at the rink, it was inevitable. But he’d never had an opinion before. Look, Cyrus was an objectively attractive person, okay. But it was a whole different thing seeing him all dressed up for a performance. He had a sneaky athletic build, but without the rough edges a hockey player might have. He was a kind of graceful on ice that TJ could only dream of being. He was quite literally glittering as he moved around under the lights, and he was also figuratively glowing.

He was a completely different person when he skated. It was like as soon as he stepped out onto the ice, he shed that layer of clumsiness and became the picture of confidence. You would never know how unsure he really was sometimes if you’d only seen him compete. 

Some of the bashfulness came back one the music stopped and the applause started. TJ couldn’t pretend to know what the judges were looking for, but in his humble opinion Cyrus deserved to win everything ever.

He felt vaguely like he should have brought flowers or something when he looked around at the other friends and family. All he had to offer was a hug, which he hoped was enough.

He didn’t miss the way Cyrus’s face lit up when they made eye contact. “You came.”

“Of course I came.”

***

TJ actually had the gall to apologize for not bringing him flowers, which was silly. Cyrus wasn’t expecting flowers, or the tight hug that TJ gave him before absolutely showering him in compliments.

“Seriously, that looks so difficult I have no idea how you did it. I would ask you to teach me but even that I don’t think would help. And you made it look like you weren’t even trying!”

Cyrus couldn’t keep the grin off his face as TJ threw an arm over his shoulder and they slowly made their way back towards the dorm building. 

When they made it back TJ hesitated for a second, looking like he had something he wanted to say.

“So,” he started, “Coach sometimes lets us get some private ice time after practice if we ask in advance. And I maybe asked for some tomorrow if you want to join me?”

“If you want me to. But if you have stuff you want to work on alone then I don’t want to intrude.”

“No! I was actually thinking I could teach you some hockey. You know, since you taught me a bit of figure skating.” TJ looked a little sheepish, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

Cyrus knew that he would embarrass himself to the highest degree but he also knew that he could never say no to TJ. “In that case I’d love to.”

“Sick,” TJ said with a huge grin. “Well, I gotta run but I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Yeah, see ya.”

Cyrus spent his walk to the library where he was supposed to meet up with Buffy and Andi _not_ freaking out, thank you very much. He was very calm.

As soon as he found their table he all but threw his books onto the table right in front of Buffy. “You need to help me, TJ scheduled private ice time for us tomorrow!”

“Congratulations? I'm not sure what the problem is?”

“Buffy, he wants me to do hockey with him! I’m going to look like a _fool_. You have to help me out beforehand so I know what I’m doing.” Cyrus pleaded.

Buffy and Andi shared a look. “Cy, he knows you don’t play hockey, I don’t think he’s expecting you to show up looking like Gretzky.”

“Besides,” Andi cut in, “I’m pretty sure he wants to teach you. Imagine how _romantic_ it could be--”

“Ooh, romance? What’d I miss?” Amber asked as she slid into the seat next to Andi.

“TJ got private ice time for him and Cyrus so he can teach Cyrus hockey.”

Amber gasped. “That’s, like, a date!”

Cyrus thunked his face to the table. “I hate you all.”

***

TJ’s stick was a little too tall for Cyrus, but it would have to do. It felt awkward in his hands, and Cyrus knew that any appearance of athleticism he managed to build up to this point was probably going to slip away.

While TJ had run back to the locker room to get another stick for himself, Cyrus tried to center himself and do some easy spins around the ice. TJ gave him a little round of applause as he stepped onto the ice. “Very pretty. Too bad pretty won’t score you extra points in hockey.”

“It should.”

“You’re just saying that cause it would benefit you.”

“It would benefit you too.”

TJ gave Cyrus a little gasp, and then batted his eyes. “Are you calling me pretty?”

Cyrus flushed a little and smacked the back of TJ’s legs with his stick. “I’m calling your _skating_ pretty. Jury’s still out on your face.”

TJ laughed. “C’mon, I actually want to teach you some hockey.”

Cyrus steeled himself and took a deep breath as TJ organized some pucks, then turned and squared his shoulders to TJ in determination. "Alright, let's do this."

TJ grinned in response. "You," he started, then turned to absolutely fire a puck at the net, making Cyrus jump a little, "are going to learn to take a slapshot."

"I'm going to learn to do that?"

"With my help, of course. Here," he drifted over to Cyrus. "Let me just fix your hands a bit…"

As TJ began fixing his grip, Cyrus tried to will his traitorous brain not to think about what Andi and Amber had said. It did not work. TJ was being so delicate as he moved Cyrus's fingers just centimetres from where they started, and Cyrus was having trouble remembering to breathe.

***

TJ tried not to let himself get too distracted as he adjusted the position of Cyrus's fingers, but it felt like something was hovering in the air between them as he did it. He looked up and made eye contact with Cyrus as he pulled his hands away. "There you go, looks great."

"Thanks?" 

TJ laughed and shook his head, skating back to the pucks he had set out for himself. "Okay, I'm going to show you one more time and then let you try so I can see what I'm working with."

He fired another puck into the net and then turned to Cyrus. "Okay, your turn."

Cyrus took a shot and his form was alright but TJ could tell he was holding back.

“C’mon, I know you can hit it harder than that. Put a little more oomph into it!”

“I regret to inform you that I have no more oomph in me.”

"I'm sure there's at least a little more oomph in you." Cyrus looked skeptical at that and TJ frowned before deciding to try a new tactic. "Okay, you know what, on this one I want you to ignore the form completely. Just hit it as hard as you can, yell a little bit, give it everything you've got."

"Yell?"

TJ slid another puck in front of Cyrus. "Yell. It'll feel good, trust me."

Cyrus looked unsure for a second, but TJ could see him try and shake it off before determination set in. He let out a yell and sent the puck screaming into the boards.

"See? Look at that, that was awesome!"

"It wasn't anywhere close to the net."

"Yeah, but you said you couldn't shoot it any harder, and I'm pretty sure you just did." TJ said smugly. 

Cyrus conceded a smile as he lifted a shoulder in a small shrug. "I guess I did."

TJ passed another puck to over to him. "I bet you can do it again."

"Do I have to yell this time?"

TJ shrugged. "Do you want to?"

Cyrus hesitated and then looked up at TJ with a sheepish smile. "Kind of."

"Well then, let her rip."

***

They were sitting on the bench after they finished up with red tipped noses and rosy cheeks from the exertion and the cold. After he finished unlacing his skates, Cyrus slid up next to TJ and pressed their shoulders together. "Thanks."

TJ hadn't realized how close Cyrus was when he turned to look, and they were silent for a second while TJ tried to gather his thoughts. He was searching Cyrus's expression, but he didn't really know what he was looking for. "Of course. I had fun."

Cyrus broke into a huge smile. "Me too."

***

TJ spotted Cyrus by the glass as soon as he got on the ice for warm ups. He returned the goofy wave Cyrus was sending his way and let his gaze linger as Cyrus turned and made his way back to his seat.

Jonah skated over and bumped his shoulder. “You know, it took me the longest time to realize you go to figure skating stuff for him, not one of the girls he’s always with. And you just let us chirp you about girls all the time!”

TJ blinked once. Twice. “Uhhh…”

“It's cool bro, I don’t care. He seems nice.” 

He skated away before he had to deal with the consequences of what he just said, leaving TJ standing stock still on the ice with his thoughts whirring. If Jonah was a good teammate he would have waited for a less crucial time to make that observation. Mid game was not a great time to be having a big gay epiphany.

 _oh_ TJ thought as he sat on the bench, remembering the way he would catch himself staring as Cyrus skated, the way his eyes would follow Cyrus even when he didn’t mean to. 

_Oh_ TJ thought as he hopped over the boards, remembering how he felt when Cyrus fell asleep on his shoulder, tucked into his side, and TJ had wanted to keep him there forever. 

_OH_ TJ thought as he chased the puck into the corner, remembering the way he sometimes caught Cyrus looking at him, how their eyes would sometimes meet and time would stop just for a second until one of them looked away.

 _OH!_ TJ thought as he got absolutely plastered into the boards by a guy from the other team. 

“Keep your head up 34!” he taunted as he skated away.

TJ peeled himself off the ice and made his way back to the bench. _Right. The game._

"You alright?" One of his teammates asked once he sat down.

"Uh huh," he said, still dazed enough that he would have been concerned if he wasn't feeling that way before the hit, "I'm good."

***

As soon as the game ended and TJ was out of immediate danger he completely checked out of anything hockey. If you had asked him what the final score was or what Coach had said in their post game meeting, he wouldn’t have had the slightest clue.

He liked Cyrus. He _liked_ Cyrus. Cyrus probably liked _him_.

TJ knew what he had to do suddenly, and he didn’t let himself think too hard about it after that. Cyrus was waiting where he often was and TJ marched up to him and started talking before Cyrus had a chance to congratulate him. 

“Hey, so, you know the athlete’s formal?” Cyrus looked a bit startled, but nodded. “Uh, well, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to come with me? As my date?”

Cyrus was able to school his shocked expression pretty quickly, and then frowned and asked, “Are you joking again or are you serious this time? Cause you were determined to find a girl like two days ago.”

And, yes, it was probably fair that Cyrus got some insight into TJ’s sudden epiphany. “Well, I was looking for a girl, but then Jonah told me that I like you and I realized that was why I couldn’t find a girl that I wanted to go with, and also that I want to go with you. Because I like you.” 

TJ was talking so fast he was actually getting a little out of breath, and it didn’t help that Cyrus blinked up at him blankly a few times before he replied, “So, you’re asking me to go to this formal with you because _Jonah_ told _you_ that you like me? Am I getting this right?”

“No. Well, yes, but. He’s not wrong?”

“He’s not wrong.” Cyrus repeated incredulously. “In that case, I’d love to go with you, because I happen to like you too.”

***

Hockey players are dumb. Hockey players are the biggest, dumbest idiots around and despite knowing this for his whole life Cyrus managed to get himself caught up with one. He looked up at the big, dumb grin on TJ’s face, and returned one of his own. Frankly he was glad TJ had this revelation even if someone else had to have it for him.

TJ wrapped him in a giant, disgusting bear hug which was for sure getting all sorts of gross, sweaty, hockey player germs all over him. TJ pulled back for a second and looked down at Cyrus. “Wait, does this mean--will you--boyfriend?”

Cyrus was overwhelmed and surprised by everything that had just happened which was his excuse for finding that really cute. “Yeah, I will boyfriend.”

TJ dropped a kiss on Cyrus’s forehead before pulling him right back into the hug, and Cyrus let out a happy sigh. He made eye contact with Andi and Buffy from behind TJ as they were giving him ridiculously exaggerated thumbs ups of approval. Cyrus rolled his eyes. So, yeah, maybe they were right about him having a type. And maybe they were right about him and TJ being a thing. Maybe. They were probably never going to stop making fun of him for that. He thought, as he tucked his face into his cute hockey player _boyfriend’s_ neck, that there were probably worse things.

*  
***  
*

TJ, Marty, and Jonah rushing into the stands in full gear was quite the sight. Cyrus could see them from where he was on the ice, would have been able to see them from a mile away. They were huge, they were loud, and they were causing quite the commotion as their slides were slapping against the floor while TJ tried his best to keep the ridiculously extravagant bouquet he brought safe by holding it up over his head as they ran to their seats. They clearly hadn't taken the time to do more than take their skates off post game before rushing to Cyrus's competition. TJ's usually neat hair was damp and sticking up in every direction like he had just ran a towel over it before taking off.

It was his first competition since they were officially dating and Cyrus had never seen TJ as upset as he was when he learned that he had a game the same day.. Cyrus had insisted that it wasn't a big deal but TJ promised he would find a way to make it before Cyrus's program. And apparently he did, just in the knick of time.

Cyrus put it out of his mind for the moment, taking a quick skate around the ice to get in the zone before taking his place at the centre.

As the program came to an end, he was out of breath but exhilarated which was often the case. He took it in for a second before turning up to where TJ (and his teammates) were cheering wildly. Cyrus could feel the warmth spreading in his chest as he saw the look of pride in TJ's eyes, and blew a kiss up in his direction before stepping off the ice.

***

TJ was overheating a little bit, if he was honest. Marty and Jonah would probably razz him later for making them all sprint across campus in full gear, but whatever. It's not like they had to. They were the ones who wanted to come too as the "architects of this relationship." (TJ wasn't actually sure what Marty thought he contributed considering he met Cyrus like twice before they started dating, but trust him to want the credit anyways.)

When he finally emerged, Cyrus exchanged hugs and compliments with the other skaters before making his was over to TJ. He was glittering. TJ loved it.

He wrapped Cyrus up in a huge hug as soon as it was possible. "You were awesome, seriously."

Cyrus raked his eyes over TJ's… interesting attire before giving him a bemused look as he reached out to try and smooth TJ's hair back into place. "You made it."

"I said I would. And I brought flowers this time!"

Cyrus laughed as he accepted the bouquet. "TJ, this is too much! Where am I going to put them?" 

TJ grinned as he threw an arm over Cyrus's shoulder like he always did. "We'll figure it out."

Cyrus leaned into his familiar spot at TJ's side. "Yeah. I guess we will."

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks again for reading, and remember to check out the artwork by emiraee [here!](https://andimackbigbang.tumblr.com/post/186572977137/ice-ice-baby) If you liked it (or caught a typo) I love feedback so leave a kudos or a comment if you want! Im also on tumblr at tj-hearteyes-kippen if you want to come say hi!


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